UDHR Quilts Project
Emerging from the wounds of the Second World War, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was devised to be the world’s conscience. It established that the ‘recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world’.
Defending our human rights is as critical now as it ever was. The #UDHRquilt Project is a collaborative craftivism project that both celebrates the UDHR and interrogates the current state of human rights. These quilts bear witness to world events. The craftivists’ commitment proves they care.
The Article I chose for this work is Article 27:
Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits. Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.
Despite the dominance of British and French culture in forming the ‘Canadian’ identity, First Nation artistic traditions and cultures have not died. My goal with this piece was to bring a dialogue to the textile techniques and depict them co-existing.
I chose two First Nation textile traditions to highlight, Iroquois (specifically Mohawk) beading from my birth province, Quebec; and Coast Salish (specifically Squamish) blanket-weaving from the province I now call home, British Columbia. The beads came from a keychain purchased from a First Nation artist when I was a child. The wool for the blanket weave was handed down to me from my aunt. From France, I decided to use Toile style fabric and from England, embroidery of an English rose.
All of these elements create the culture that is Canada today. They deserve to be cherished and respected as art forms, without fear of being appropriated or destroyed.
